Connector Assembly and Flat Cable

This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. CN202421934658.5 filed on Aug. 9, 2024, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a cable and, more particularly, to a flat cable and a connector assembly including the flat cable.

In the prior art, a wire harness for a Type C connector typically includes a plurality of circular conductors, which need to be welded to a circuit board one by one. Further, each of the circular conductors needs to be clamped and fixed during welding, resulting in a complex welding process and difficulty in automatic production. In addition, the plurality of circular conductors are disorderly bound together, resulting in the disadvantages of large volume and difficulty in identification. In the prior art, each of the circular conductors includes, from the inside to the outside, a core wire, an inner insulation layer, an aluminum foil layer, a braided layer, and an outer insulation layer. Before welding, it is necessary to peel off the outer insulation layer, bend and cut the braided layer, remove the aluminum foil layer, and cut off the inner insulation layer. This results in a complex and time-consuming welding process for the circular conductors, thus reducing production efficiency and increasing manufacturing costs.

A connector assembly includes a circuit board, a connector, a flat cable, and an insulator. The connector has a housing and a plurality of terminals disposed in the housing. The flat cable has a row of core wires and an inner insulation layer wrapping the row of core wires. A rear end of the plurality of terminals protrude from the housing and are electrically connected to the circuit board. A front end of the row of core wires are exposed from the inner insulation layer and are welded to the circuit board. The insulator is injection-molded onto the circuit board, the rear end of the plurality of terminals, and the front end of the row of core wires through an embedded injection molding process, such that the insulator, the circuit board, the plurality of terminals, and the row of core wires form an integral part.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

1 10 FIGS.- 5 7 FIGS.and 7 FIG. 10 FIG. 7 FIG. 1 2 3 4 2 20 21 20 1 10 13 10 21 20 3 10 13 3 4 3 21 10 4 3 21 10 An exemplary embodiment of a connector assembly will now be described with reference to. As shown in, the connector assembly includes a flat cable, a connector, a circuit board, and an insulator. The connectorincludes, as shown in, a housingand a plurality of terminalsdisposed in the housing. As shown in, the flat cableincludes a row of core wiresand an inner insulation layerwrapping the row of core wires. As shown in, rear end of the plurality of terminalsprotrudes from the housingand is electrically connected to the circuit board, and front end of the row of core wiresis exposed from the inner insulation layerand is welded to the circuit board. The insulatoris injection-molded onto the circuit board, the rear end of the plurality of terminals, and the front end of the row of core wiresthrough an embedded injection molding process, such that the insulator, the circuit board, the plurality of terminals, and the row of core wiresform an integral part.

9 FIG. 30 3 10 1 30 3 As shown in, a row of padsis formed on the circuit board. The front end of the row of core wiresof the flat cableis welded to the row of padsof the circuit boardrespectively.

10 FIG. 10 FIG. 10 1 10 10 1 11 12 11 12 11 12 10 11 12 11 10 10 10 As shown in, the row of core wiresof the flat cableincludes a plurality of different types of core wireshaving different cross-sections and/or sizes. The row of core wiresof the flat cableincludes a flat core wirehaving a rectangular cross-section and a circular core wirehaving a circular cross-section. A width of the flat core wireis greater than a diameter of the circular core wire, and a thickness of the flat core wireis equal to the diameter of the circular core wire. As shown in, the row of core wiresincludes a single flat core wireand a plurality of circular core wires, and the single flat core wireis a first core wireor a last core wirein the row of core wires.

9 FIG. 30 30 10 30 31 11 32 12 31 32 31 32 As shown in, the row of padsincludes a plurality of different types of padscorresponding to the plurality of different types of core wiresrespectively. The row of padsincludes a first padcorresponding to the flat core wireand a second padcorresponding to the circular core wire. A width of the first padis greater than a width of the second pad, and a thickness of the first padis equal to a thickness of the second pad.

7 FIG. 21 2 21 3 21 3 2 2 As shown in, the plurality of terminalsof the connectorare arranged in an upper row and a lower row. The rear end of the terminalsin the upper row is welded to a front side of the circuit board, and the rear end of the terminalsin the lower row is welded to a back side of the circuit board. In the illustrated embodiment, the connectoris a Type-C connectorconforming to a Type-C interface standard.

6 7 FIGS.- 2 22 20 22 4 2 4 As shown in, the connectorfurther includes a shield casesleeved on the housing, and a rear end of the shield caseis sleeved and locked to the insulatorto fix the connectorto a front end of the insulator.

1 14 15 14 13 15 14 4 10 FIGS.- 10 FIG. 10 FIG. The flat cablefurther includes a shield layer, as shown in, and an outer insulation layer, as shown in. As shown in, the shield layerwraps around the inner insulation layer, and the outer insulation layerwraps around the shield layer.

5 4 22 5 5 5 14 1 15 5 5 5 14 1 5 5 2 22 5 2 22 5 5 5 43 4 3 43 5 5 43 4 3 3 5 FIGS.- 3 5 FIGS.- 4 5 FIGS.- 5 FIG. 5 FIG. a a b b b b c c The connector assembly further includes a shield cover, as shown in, mounted on the insulator. The rear end of the shield caseis inserted into a front end of the shield coverand is in electric contact with the front end of the shield cover, and a rear end of the shield coveris crimped onto the shield layerof the flat cablethat is exposed from the outer insulation layer. As shown in, a crimping portionis formed at the rear end of the shield cover, and the crimping portionis crimped onto the shield layerof the flat cable. An elastic latch, as shown in, is formed on the front end of the shield cover, an engagement groove, as shown in, is formed in the rear end of the shield case, and the elastic latchis locked into the engagement grooveto lock the rear end of the shield caseto the front end of the shield cover. As shown in, an inwardly protruding contact protrusionis formed on the shield coverand an openingis formed on the insulator. A part of the circuit boardis exposed from the opening, and the contact protrusionof the shield coveris engaged into the openingof the insulatorand is in electric contact with the circuit board.

5 FIG. 5 51 52 5 51 52 5 51 52 5 5 51 52 e f e f As shown in, the shield coverincludes an upper shield coverand a lower shield coverassembled together. An elastic pieceis formed on a side wall of one of the upper shield coverand the lower shield coverand a snap slotis formed in the other one of the upper shield coverand the lower shield cover. The elastic pieceis locked into the snap slotto lock the upper shield coverand the lower shield covertogether.

1 3 FIGS.- 8 8 5 1 8 2 8 As shown in, the connector assembly further includes an outer insulating shell. The outer insulating shellis sleeved on the shield coverand has a front port and a rear port opposite each other in an axial direction thereof. The flat cableis led out from the rear port of the outer insulating shell, and a part of the connectorextends out of the front port of the outer insulating shell.

9 9 1 8 8 9 91 92 91 8 92 91 1 92 92 1 1 1 3 FIGS.- The connector assembly further includes a rear end cover, as shown in. The rear end coveris sleeved on the flat cableand is locked onto a rear end of the outer insulating shellto retain the flat cable I to the outer insulating shell. The rear end coverincludes a fixing portionand a buffer portion. The fixing portionis configured to be sleeved and locked onto the rear end of the outer insulating shell. The buffer portionextends rearwardly from the fixing portionand is capable of elastic deformation. The flat cablepasses through the buffer portion, and the buffer portionis configured to provide stress buffer for the flat cableto prevent the flat cablefrom being damaged by bending.

1 1 10 13 13 10 10 13 3 10 10 10 11 12 1 10 FIGS.- 10 FIG. 10 FIG. An exemplary embodiment of the flat cable, as shown in, will now be described. As shown in, the flat cableincludes the row of core wiresand the inner insulation layer. The inner insulation layerwraps the row of core wires. One end of the row of core wiresis exposed from the inner insulation layerand is configured to be welded to a circuit boardof a connector assembly. The row of core wiresincludes a plurality of different types of core wireshaving different cross-sections and/or sizes. The row of core wires, as shown in, includes a flat core wirehaving a rectangular cross-section and a circular core wirehaving a circular cross-section.

10 FIG. 1 14 15 14 13 15 14 14 15 5 As shown in, the flat cablefurther includes a shield layerand an outer insulation layer. The shield layerwraps around the inner insulation layer. The outer insulation layerwraps around the shield layer. One end of the shield layeris exposed from the outer insulation layerand is configured to be electrically connected to a shield coverof the connector assembly.

1 1 14 In the aforementioned various exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, the flat cablehas the advantage of small volume, easy handling, and convenient welding, and enables automatic production, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, in some of the aforementioned exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, the flat cablefurther has a shield layer, which can ensure the stability of signal transmission of the connector assembly.

It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “including” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.